Author: Laura

The 2020 Hugo Voters Packet is available to members of CoNZealand, the 78th World Science Fiction Convention, from now until close of voting on July 15. Many thanks to the creators and publishers who have shared materials for the consideration of Hugo voters and to the Hugo administrators for putting it all together!

Once logged in to the member area, you will be able to access the download page for the Hugo Packet. The first file is a table of contents in PDF format showing the types of files provided for each participating finalist in each category (except dramatic presentation). The remaining downloads are a series of ZIP files divided by category and further divided by finalist in categories with large file sizes.

In the following breakdown, I have put an asterisk (*) next to the file types where I noticed formatting issues. In most cases, these issues only affect the EPUB and MOBI formats, and the PDF version of the same book looks fine. However, Planetfall by Emma Newman (the first book in the Best Series finalist of the same name) has almost no formatting in either file type provided through NetGalley. For example, paragraphs start on a new line with no line break or indent. Atlas Alone (fourth and final book in the same series) is slightly better with at least paragraph line breaks. The second and third books are uncorrected proofs but appear close to final copy on a cursory glance.

The books accessed through NetGalley links are DRM protected. Contrary to what it says in some of the accompanying packet material, the “Send to Kindle” option is not available for the Kindle for PC or Mac desktop apps. You will need to set up a specific Kindle device or mobile app to receive the file from NetGalley. The book will then be available to download to any other Kindle device or mobile app logged into your Amazon account, but DRM will tie the book to the device or app it is downloaded to. To read on your computer or other ereaders and apps, choose the “Download Protected EPUB/PDF” option. You will need to install Adobe Digital Editions and authorize it with an Adobe ID. Here the DRM will allow you to read on any device or app authorized with the same Adobe ID, but these are set to expire 55 days after downloading (which currently takes us past the close of the voting period). NetGalley’s help pages have the details on setting up a Kindle or downloading and reading on other devices.

Happy reading, watching, listening, and viewing!

BEST NOVEL (5 novels, 1 novel excerpt)

The City in the Middle of the Night, by Charlie Jane Anders (Tor; Titan)

I will not be at all surprised to see repeat winners at the Hugos for novella, dramatic presentation, and YA fiction. It’s nice to see things that aren’t on the Hugo ballot win in other categories. Have you read, watched, or played any of the winners here?

The City in the Middle of the Night and The Light Brigade are Hugo finalists for Best Novel. Luna: Moon Rising and The Rosewater Insurrection/The Rosewater Redemption are the latest installments in two of the Hugo finalists for Best Series.

To Be Taught, If Fortunate is a Hugo finalist. “Anxiety Is the Dizziness of Freedom”, The Haunting of Tram Car 015, This Is How You Lose the Time War, and The Deep are finalists for both the Hugo and the Nebula.

Six original and four reprint anthologies. A People’s Future of the United States and New Suns each have one short story finalist. The Mythic Dream has two novelette and two short story finalists.

COLLECTION

Exhalation, Ted Chiang (Knopf; Picador)

Of Wars, and Memories, and Starlight, Aliette de Bodard (Subterranean)

The Best of Greg Egan, Greg Egan (Subterranean)

Snow White Learns Witchcraft, Theodora Goss (Mythic Delirium)

Full Throttle, Joe Hill (Morrow; Gollancz)

Meet Me in the Future, Kameron Hurley (Tachyon)

The Very Best of Caitlín R. Kiernan, Caitlín R. Kiernan (Tachyon)

The Best of R.A. Lafferty, R.A. Lafferty (Gollancz)

Hexarchate Stories, Yoon Ha Lee (Solaris US & UK)

Sooner or Later Everything Falls into the Sea, Sarah Pinsker (Small Beer)

Snow White Learns Witchcraft and Full Throttle each have one novelette finalist. Exhalation has one novella and one novelette finalist.

MAGAZINE

Analog

Asimov’s

Beneath Ceaseless Skies

Clarkesworld

F&SF

File 770

Lightspeed

Strange Horizons

Tor.com

Uncanny

File 770 is an eight-time previous winner of the Best Fanzine Hugo. Beneath Ceaseless Skies, Strange Horizons, and Uncanny are Hugo finalists for Best Semiprozine. The remaining six finalists are all prozines. F&SF and Tor.com each have one novelette finalist. Uncanny has one novella, one novelette, and two short story finalists.

PUBLISHER

Angry Robot (1)

DAW (1)

Gollancz (7)

Harper Voyager (3)

Orbit (7)

Saga (8)

Small Beer (1)

Subterranean (4)

Tachyon (2)

Tor (10)

The numbers in parentheses are the total finalist works. For Tor, I’m including the main imprint only; not Tor.com Publishing, TorTeen, or the Tor.com online short fiction.

While I’m glad the Hugo categories don’t have ten finalists each and that the novels aren’t split by genre, it’s always interesting to see the broader range that the Locus Award Finalist list provides. Anything here which you feel like the other awards have overlooked so far?

This is the fourth and final post of my initial thoughts. I’m dividing the nineteen award categories into written fiction works (novel, novella, novelette, short story, young adult book), other individual works (related work, graphic story, long form dramatic presentation, short form dramatic presentation), people categories (short form editor, long form editor, professional artist, fan writer, fan artist, new writer), and serial categories (series, semiprozine, fanzine, fancast).

Best Series

The Expanse, by James S. A. Corey (Orbit US; Orbit UK)

InCryptid, by Seanan McGuire (DAW)

Luna, by Ian McDonald (Tor; Gollancz)

Planetfall series, by Emma Newman (Ace; Gollancz)

Winternight Trilogy, by Katherine Arden (Del Rey; Del Rey UK)

The Wormwood Trilogy, by Tade Thompson (Orbit US; Orbit UK)

I’ve read at least one book and have been meaning to continue The Expanse, InCryptid, and Winternight. I have at least the first book and have been meaning to start the other three series. I was a little disappointed that The Expanse got nominated just before its conclusion, but there’s no guarantee that it would have made the ballot next year. Now I’ll have extra motivation to get caught up by the time the last book comes out.

The only newcomer here is The Rec Center which I’ve noticed on the longlist for the past two years. The Book Smugglers was first nominated as a fanzine, then a couple times as a semiprozine, and now it’s back in fanzine. My own nominees were nerds of a feather and Quick Sip Reviews.

Best Fancast

Be The Serpent, presented by Alexandra Rowland, Freya Marske and Jennifer Mace

I’m very excited to see a BookTube channel on the final ballot. There have been a couple on the longlist, but Claire Rousseau is the first finalist from the community. The others are all returning podcast finalists.

This is the third of four posts with my initial thoughts. I’m dividing the nineteen award categories into written fiction works (novel, novella, novelette, short story, young adult book), other individual works (related work, graphic story, long form dramatic presentation, short form dramatic presentation), people categories (short form editor, long form editor, professional artist, fan writer, fan artist, new writer), and serial categories (series, semiprozine, fanzine, fancast).

Best Editor, Short Form

Neil Clarke

Ellen Datlow

C.C. Finlay

Jonathan Strahan

Lynne M. Thomas and Michael Damian Thomas

Sheila Williams

The first three were my own nominees. I nominated Uncanny in Best Semiprozine rather than nominating the Thomases in this category. I’m particularly pleased for C.C. Finlay’s first-time appearance here. I became a regular reader of The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction around the time that he took over as editor in 2015, and I’ve been subscribing ever since.

Best Editor, Long Form

Sheila E. Gilbert

Brit Hvide

Diana M. Pho

Devi Pillai

Miriam Weinberg

Navah Wolfe

Devi Pillai was my nominee in this category, but I’m glad to see Brit Hvide make her first appearance here. (I actually nominated her for the Astounding Award this year.) She is now the editor for many of the authors who previously worked with Devi Pillai after Pillai moved from Orbit to Tor.

Best Professional Artist

Tommy Arnold

Rovina Cai

Galen Dara

John Picacio

Yuko Shimizu

Alyssa Winans

I nominated Alyssa Winans, but I’m also happy for the other two newcomers. Tommy Arnold has been right on the cusp of making the final ballot a couple times in the past few years. Rovina Cai was on the longlist last year too.

Best Fan Writer

Cora Buhlert

James Davis Nicoll

Alasdair Stuart

Bogi Takács

Paul Weimer

Adam Whitehead

We also have three new names in this category. I’m especially thrilled for my own nominee Adam Whitehead. His blog was one of the first I started following way back when blogs were the cool, new thing. Although this is both of their first appearances here, Cora Buhlert and Paul Weimer are familiar names I’m pleased to see as well.

Best Fan Artist

Iain Clark

Sara Felix

Grace P. Fong

Meg Frank

Ariela Housman

Elise Matthesen

My nominees were newcomer Iain Clark and returning finalist Ariela Housman. Jewelry artist Elise Matthesen is the other first-time finalist here while the remaining three are also previous finalists.

Astounding Award for Best New Writer

Sam Hawke (2nd year of eligibility)

R.F. Kuang (2nd year of eligibility)

Jenn Lyons (1st year of eligibility)

Nibedita Sen (2nd year of eligibility)

Tasha Suri (2nd year of eligibility)

Emily Tesh (1st year of eligibility)

R.F. Kuang was my own nominee. Nibedita Sen is also a finalist for Best Short Story. The other four authors are on my TBR list.

Who are you excited to see here? And who are you looking forward to learning more about?

This is the second of four posts with my initial thoughts. I’m dividing the nineteen award categories into written fiction works (novel, novella, novelette, short story, young adult book), other individual works (related work, graphic story, long form dramatic presentation, short form dramatic presentation), people categories (short form editor, long form editor, professional artist, fan writer, fan artist, new writer), and serial categories (series, semiprozine, fanzine, fancast).

Best Related Work

The Lady from the Black Lagoon: Hollywood Monsters and the Lost Legacy of Milicent Patrick, by Mallory O’Meara (Hanover Square)

The Pleasant Profession of Robert A. Heinlein, by Farah Mendlesohn (Unbound)

“2019 John W. Campbell Award Acceptance Speech”, by Jeannette Ng

Worlds of Ursula K. Le Guin, produced and directed by Arwen Curry

I nominated the Heinlein book and the Le Guin documentary. I watched Jeannette Ng’s speech during the livestream of last year’s Hugo Awards Ceremony. While I appreciate the changes it helped catalyze, I don’t think compares to the other finalists.

I’ll be able to access the other three books through three different digital resources from my library. Becoming Superman is available through Hoopla, but I’ve also put a hold on the physical copy as well. While Hoopla’s interface works well for comics, it’s not so great for ebooks. Plus, I’d like to save my Hoopla checkouts for the next category. If my library doesn’t reopen in time or if the book isn’t provided in the Hugo Voters Packet, the Hoopla version will do. Joanna Russ is available through the EBSCOhost ebook collection as a PDF file. I’m not crazy about reading PDF files, but it isn’t bad on a tablet. Finally, The Lady from the Black Lagoon is available through OverDrive which works seamlessly with my ereader.

LaGuardia was the only one here which I nominated. I decided I would wait to read the latest entries in the Monstress and Paper Girls series. I figured they were likely to make the ballot without me and looked at other things for my nominations.

I don’t remember hearing about Die or Mooncakes before now. I see that Mooncakes is a redone and revised print version of an ongoing webcomic. It doesn’t currently seem to be available digitally at all. Pre-release reviewers mention receiving an eARC through NetGalley so perhaps the publisher will do that for the Hugo Packet as well.

I’ve been meaning to read The Wicked + The Divine series since it first began, but haven’t gotten to it. Luckily the entire thing is available at Hoopla both as nine volumes and in the four omnibus editions. So I’ll be able to save some checkouts for the other finalists I need to read. All of them are at Hoopla except Mooncakes. I’ve put a hold on my library’s print copy in hopes they reopen in time for me to read it before voting ends.

Us, written and directed by Jordan Peele (Monkeypaw Productions/Universal Pictures)

I nominated Good Omens, but I still need to watch everything else here. I don’t usually see superhero movies until they become Hugo finalists. Horror isn’t my thing, but I was pleasantly surprised by Jordan Peele’s previous Hugo finalist Get Out. I just didn’t have any desire to see the latest Star Wars in the theater. And I haven’t really heard enough about Russian Doll to compel me to check it out until now.

I’ve signed up for Disney+ to watch the Marvel movies and The Mandalorian episode which was nominated in short form. Apparently The Rise of Skywalker isn’t there yet so I’ve put the DVD on hold at the library (position 33 once they reopen!). Good Omens I saw via Amazon Prime, Russian Doll is from Netfix, and Us is currently on HBO. Stream all the things!

My only nominee here is the episode of The Expanse. I didn’t start catching up with my recorded episodes of The Good Place or Doctor Who until after nominations closed. I haven’t reached this episode of The Good Place, although I have since watched the Doctor Who New Year’s Special. I didn’t think it was particularly special, but I guess we’re required to have a Doctor Who episode on the ballot even when only one aired in the qualifying year.

I’ve started watching The Mandalorian, and I finally get the appeal of Baby Yoda. He’s cuter in action. I’ll be going into Watchmen having never seen any other incarnation.

Tell me what you’ve read or watched here. Is there anything else you were hoping to see on the ballot?

This will be the first of four posts with my initial thoughts. I’m dividing the nineteen award categories into written fiction works (novel, novella, novelette, short story, young adult book), other individual works (related work, graphic story, long form dramatic presentation, short form dramatic presentation), people categories (short form editor, long form editor, professional artist, fan writer, fan artist, new writer), and serial categories (series, semiprozine, fanzine, fancast).

Best Novel

The City in the Middle of the Night, by Charlie Jane Anders (Tor; Titan)

Four of these were on my nomination ballot, and I only have one left to read. The one I’ve read but didn’t nominate was The City in the Middle of the Night. I went in with high hopes since I loved All the Birds in the Sky. There’s some interesting worldbuilding, but the main character frustrated the heck out of me.

The one I still need to read is Gideon the Ninth. I’ve seen a lot of buzz, but it didn’t really sound like my sort of thing. Although I liked her story “The Deepwater Bride” enough to nominate it a few years ago, and I wouldn’t have thought that was my sort of thing either. I decide to wait and see if it made the ballot and here it is!

Of the four I nominated, my favorite is The Ten Thousand Doors of January. I also went into this with high hopes from “A Witch’s Guide to Escape,” and my expectations were exceeded. The other three are going to be really tough to rank. I remember thinking I was glad I didn’t need to for nominations. Now I’ll have to decide.

This Is How You Lose the Time War, by Amal El-Mohtar and Max Gladstone (Saga Press; Jo Fletcher Books)

To Be Taught, If Fortunate, by Becky Chambers (Harper Voyager; Hodder & Stoughton)

Of these, I’ve read five and nominated two. McGuire’s Wayward Children novellas continue to delight me, and this one probably stands on its own the best so far. I loved To Be Taught, If Fortunate as much as her Wayfarers books, although it’s unconnected to that series. I’m leaning toward the later, but I may have to flip a coin to decide between them.

The Deep very nearly made my nomination ballot. I feel like I wanted to like it a little more than I did, but it’s definitely thought-provoking. The Haunting of Tram Car 015 was good but didn’t stand out from the other novellas I read. I would love to see more in that setting though. This Is How You Lose the Time War seemed like it was probably a ton of fun for the authors to write, but it just didn’t do it for me. I know I’m in the extreme minority here.

The only one I haven’t read is “Anxiety Is the Dizziness of Freedom.” Right now I’m number 123 on the waitlist for the six digital copies of Exhalation at my library! Here’s hoping that this and the Best Novelette finalist from Chiang’s collection are included in the Hugo Voters Packet because I doubt I’ll get it in time. I also put a hold on the physical copy, but that will depend on when the library is able to reopen.

Here I have two more nominees and two more to read. It’s dogs vs. cats between my nominees “Away With the Wolves” and “For He Can Creep.” Sorry cat lovers, I’ve always been more of a dog person. Really great characterization in both though.

“The Archronology of Love” was on my longlist. It was moving and has an interesting premise. “The Blur in the Corner of Your Eye” was fun, wacky, and horrifying! But didn’t stand out as much for me as Pinsker’s stories have in previous years.

I still need to read “Omphalos” if I can get my hands on Exhalation. Fortunately I’ll be able to access Emergency Skin through my Kindle Unlimited subscription.

Best Short Story

“And Now His Lordship Is Laughing”, by Shiv Ramdas (Strange Horizons, 9 September 2019)

“As the Last I May Know”, by S.L. Huang (Tor.com, 23 October 2019)

“Blood Is Another Word for Hunger”, by Rivers Solomon (Tor.com, 24 July 2019)

“Ten Excerpts from an Annotated Bibliography on the Cannibal Women of Ratnabar Island”, by Nibedita Sen (Nightmare Magazine, May 2019)

I’ve read all of these except the one from Nightmare, but none were on my nomination ballot. Of the five I’ve read, my favorite is “Do Not Look Back, My Lion” with some fascinating worldbuilding. They’re all good, but rather brutal. I look forward to reading the story by Nibedita Sen since she is also a finalist for the Astounding Award for Best New Writer.

Lodestar Award for Best Young Adult Book

Catfishing on CatNet, by Naomi Kritzer (Tor Teen)

Deeplight, by Frances Hardinge (Macmillan)

Dragon Pearl, by Yoon Ha Lee (Disney/Hyperion)

Minor Mage, by T. Kingfisher (Argyll)

Riverland, by Fran Wilde (Amulet)

The Wicked King, by Holly Black (Little, Brown; Hot Key)

I nominated four of these, and I have two left to read. It looks like Deeplight won’t be available here in the US until next week. I really liked T. Kingfisher’s previous Best YA Book finalist in the first year of the award, so I imagine I’ll enjoy Minor Mage too. It will be hard enough to rank the ones I nominated here, and I don’t think adding these two will make it any easier.

The Expanse by James S.A. Corey is one of the 2020 Hugo Award finalists for Best Series. It was previously a finalist in 2017, and an episode of the TV show won that year for Best Dramatic Presentation, Short Form. The first book in the series was a Best Novel finalist in 2012. Daniel Abraham, who along with Ty Franck is behind the James S.A. Corey pseudonym, was a Best Novelette finalist in 2008.

Novels:

Leviathan Wakes (2011)

Caliban’s War (2012)

Abaddon’s Gate (2013)

Cibola Burn (2014)

Nemesis Games (2015)

Babylon’s Ashes (2016)

Persepolis Rising (2017)

Tiamat’s Wrath (2019)

Short Fiction:

The Butcher of Anderson Station (2011)

Gods of Risk (2012)

“Drive”, originally published in the anthology Edge of Infinity, edited by Jonathan Strahan (Solaris, 2012)

The Churn (2014)

The Vital Abyss (2015)

Strange Dogs (2017)

“The Last Flight of the Cassandra”, published in The Expanse Roleplaying Game (Green Ronin, 2019)

Auberon (2019)

All of the above were published by Orbit except where indicated. A ninth and final novel in the series is expected to be released later this year. Unfortunately that means the series won’t be eligible next year after its completion. (A previous Best Series finalist must have at least two additional works comprising at least 240,000 words since their last appearance. Previous winners are permanently ineligible in future years.)

In addition to the TV series, I discovered there is a comic adaptation called The Expanse: Origins which delves into the backstories of the main characters. Both a board game and a roleplaying game were created in collaboration with the authors as well.

I read the first three books and the first two short fiction pieces not long after release. I have all the novels and at least one more of the short fiction ebooks. I just haven’t gotten to them. My partner has read all the books, and we’ve watched the TV show. (I know I’ve spoiled myself for book 4.) I was hoping to catch up when the series got nominated last time, but I got wrapped up with other series I hadn’t read at all. Hopefully this is the year!

Have you read these? Watch the show? Played the games? What did you think?

I started this post just after the Hugo Award Ceremony last year, but got busy and didn’t finish until now. So while we wait for this year’s finalist announcement, let’s take one last look at the results from 2019.

On August 18th, Dublin 2019 – An Irish Worldcon presented the 2019 Hugo Awards, the Lodestar Award for Best Young Adult Book, and the John W. Campbell Award for Best New Writer. Here are the winners, the finalists in the order they placed, and the longlist of nominees. The number in parentheses indicates the finalist’s place at the nomination stage.

Saga Press revealed the table of contents for Jonathan Strahan’s The Year’s Best Science Fiction, Vol. 1 which will be available on September 8, 2020. It includes the following 28 stories (1 novella, 8 novelettes, and 19 short stories) originally published in 2019:

Of those that I’ve read, my favorite is “The Work of Wolves” by Tegan Moore. I put it on my Hugo ballot. “The Archronology of Love” by Caroline M. Yoachim and “A Catalog of Storms” by Fran Wilde are also Nebula finalists in their respective categories.